Life-preserver.



G. BIDONDE. LIfE PRESERVER.

APPL-lcATloN msu Avn. 13. ma.

Patented @on 22, 1918.v

' is prevented from entering into the appa-e Vemanan BiDoNDE, or Nnw YORK, n'. r.

LIFE-PRESERVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Uct.. 22, 1918.

Application led April 13, 1918. Serial No. 228,455.

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, GRATIEN BiDoNDE,

a citizen of the United States, and a iesident andlmproved Life-Preserver, of which the' following isa full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to life preseivers and has reference more particularly to van apparatus for supplying air to a person having his head partiall or totally submerged.

An object of the invention isto provide a simple and inexpensive apparatus which can be easily and quickly adjusted on the head of a person and engaged with his nostrils so that air ean'be received by the person from a point above the head.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. device in which the air inlet is in the shape of an air bell and, therefore, when the same strikes the surface of the water, water ratus.

lilith the above and other objects in'view, the nature ot which will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, forming part ot' the application, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views. l

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus as it would appear on a person swimvming;

Fig. 6 is an inside elevation of the nose piece and the mouthpiece; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a modified forni of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, 9 is the nose piece. It has arecess 10 on the inner face which forms the cavity for the nose. It has also a pair of tubular nostril plugs l1 which enter the nostrils when the nosegpiece is fitted on the nose. 'It is self-evident that the nostril plugs 11 will vary, and they are preferably made detachable so they can be enlarged and made adaptable to ditlerent noses. The tubular nostril plugs" 11 register with passages 12 in the nose piece, the passages merging into a nipple 13 to which a'tube 14 may be attached.

To insure a tight joint between the nose and the nose piece 9, a rubber diaphragm 15 is provided on the inner face ot' the nose piece. The diaphragm has a substantially triangular aperture lreintorced at the edge by a rubber bead 17. The diaphragm 15 can be stretched by flexible members 18 anchored to the diaphragm at the bead, preferably at the corners, which are rounded to obtain a better titl between the nose and the nose The nose piece 9 is suspended from one end of a yielding brace 19, the other end of which carriles a neck piece 20. rIhe brace is shaped to straddle the head of a person, as shown in the drawing; and the resiliencyis suclr that, when it .is brought into engagement with the head the nose piece is drawn tightly against the face. The brace 19 has a bracket 21 extending rearwardly which Sil carries a socket 22, the socket being conf nected'to the tube 1l so that the nipple 13 of the nose piece is in communication with the socket-22. An air bell 23 of the diver type is suspended from the socket :22 to swing. A.. Weight 24: extends from the air bell so that the air bell is always suspended from the socket in a substantially vertical position. The air bell is in addition connected to the socket 22 by a flexible sleeve 25 into which openings 26 from the socket and opennigs 27 from the bell enter. This sleeve 25 allows free swing to the bell without cutting off communication between the openings 26 and 27 therefore, air can easily circulate from the bell through thetube 14 and through the nostril plugs.

The device when fitted on to a person will allow the person to inhale through thenostrils even when the nose is below the water level, 'providing the air bell is above the water level. I- a wave strikes thebellthe air therein prevents the water fromv entering and a number of breaths can be taken by the person before the water will have a mouth, and to prevent an accidental inhalation through the vmouth during eX citement, I provide a mouthpiece 28. which is 'hinged to the nose piece and which has a suitable recess 29 to better fit the persons mouth. The hinge 30 is-located on the outer face so that the mouthpiece can be thrown outwardlyrto allow the person to eX- pectorate. Preferably springs 31 are 'provided on the sides to retain the mouthpiece 28 in either operative or in inoperative position. To better retain the device :against the face, I provide in addition elastic members 32 which extend from the mouthpiece to .the neck piece 20.

In cases where it'is desirable to allow the person a greater submergence, the tube 14 .may be extended-vertically above the brace 19, as shown in Fig. 7, in which case the tube '14 is raised materially above the brace-19 and the bell 23 suspended in a manner as described at the end of the tube. It is'selfevident that if the tube 14 is of flexible material an extension from the brace mustbe made for the purpose, but if the tube is c-l rigid material then such an extension to the brace is not necessary. v

A. person equipped with `such a device when thrown into water, even if not able to swim, will be able to main-tain himself above the water fora long period, due to the fact that it would be impossible for the person to swallow water in the first excitement, which is generally the cause of drowning.

l claim 1. ll'n a life preserver of the class described, a brace for engaging the head of a person. a nose piece attached to the brace having means for engaging the nostrils of a. person, an air bell suspended from the brace,

which is adapted to maintain the bell above the surface of the Water, and a tube connecting the nose piece to the air bell whereby airmay be supplied to the means for engaging the nostril.l

2. ln a life preserver of the classdescribed, a brace for engaging the head of a person, a nose 4piece secured to the brace and having tubular nostril plugs for engaging the nostrils of a' person engaged by the brace,- a

rubber diaphragm on the face of the nose piece having an opening for the nose, flexible means for stretching the diaphragm whereby the opening in the same may be drawn tightly about thenose, an air bell suspended hfrom the vbrace to bemaintained by the brace above the surzace of the water, and a tube connecting the air bell to the tubular nostril .1 plug.

3,. .'ln a life preserver ont the class de;

scribed, a brace for engaging the head of a person, a nose piece secured to the brace` and'` aving tubular nostril plugs for engaging the nostrils, stretchable means on the face of the nose piece for forming a tight joint between the nose and the nose piece, means for stretching the stretchable means,` a-

mouthpiece hinged to the nose .piece to swing outwardly, yielding means connecting the nose piece to the mouthpiece, so that the said nose piece having a passage leading to said tubular nostril. plugs, an air bell suspended from ,the brace, means associated with the air bell to maintain the sameV .in

'salme may be maintained in operative or in v moperatlve position by sald yleldlng means,

vertical position, and a tubeconnecting the v air bell to the passage in the nose piece.

4. In a life preserver` of the class described, a brace, a nose piece secured to the brace and having means for engaging-thev nostrils, means 'on the mner face of the nose plece for forming a tlghtv Joint between the nose and the nose piece, said nose vpiece hav.-

ing passages to said means for engaging the y person, a nose piece attached to the brace and having means for engaging the nostrils brace, meansfor maintaining said air bell in vertical position, and a tube from the nose piece to the air bell, including a ieXible connection atlthe air bell to allow said bell to be main-tained ina vertical position.

(3. In a life kpreserver of the class deof a person, an air bell suspended from the i scribed, a brace for engaging the head of a person, a face piece .havingneans for engaging the nostrils of a person, an air bell,

flexible means suspending the bell from. the brace, a weight associated with t-he bellfor maintaining the same in a vertical position and a tube connectingthe face piece to the bell whereby air may be supplied to the means for engaging the no-strils.-

'7. In a life preserver of the'class described, a brace for engaging the head of a person, a nose pieceattached -to the brace, air-supplying means .suspended from the brace-so that said air-supplying means are adapted to be abovethe Water levelvwhen said bracaengages thel head of a person swimmin ,land a tube connecting thenose pieceto t e air-supplying means.

' GRTEN BlDNDE. 

